Record 29 Percent of House Democrats Hail from NY, California

The portion of Democratic House members coming from California and New York will total an all-time high of 29.4 percent in the 113th Congress, which begins in January, according to the University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics blog.

Smart Politics examined data back to 1850, when California achieved statehood. The previous record was 28.1 percent for the current Congress.

If you include Illinois and Massachusetts, 40 percent of House Democrats come from just four states, according to Politico.

Democrats gained eight House seats in this month’s elections, with four seats added in California and one in New York. So California will have 38 Democratic House members, and New York will have 21. The Democratic delegation will total 201.

Democrats control 72 percent of California’s 53 House seats and 78 percent of New York’s 27 House seats.

While California and New York account for 29.4 percent of Democratic seats in the House, the two states hold just 18.4 percent of U.S. House seats overall. That 11 percentage point difference is the largest since 1866, just after the Civil War.